I operated Field Day from home for several years when I had to be available on short notice.Since I typically work QRP anyway, I just unplugged the charger from the battery, which putme in class 1E (home station on emergency power). That way I could work any station.

I was using my 48V Golf Cart Batteries hooked up to box I made that contained a 1500w pure sine inverted with a meter, DC power switches, battery charger and Solar panel connections (3 panels about 700-800W output). Being that I was operating at night the solar didn't matter but it's all inclusive.

Conditions were horrible and I didn't bother until near sunset when it got much better. Signals were too weak and too noisy. Around sunset it quieted down a bit and contacts made through out the U.S. came through well. Nice to get on 80M again. 40 & 80 was clear and strong.

It was interesting because I was operating with about 600W and Hexbeam so I was able to get through because many were much closer but using 100W or less. That's a twist.

Next year I should take my FT-897 up the mountain with Marine Battery and operate for evening - using end fed antenna and perhaps dipole with switch. I'm kinda the solo ham operator amongst friends.....

Copyright 2000-2018 eHam.net, LLC
eHam.net is a community web site for amateur (ham) radio operators around the world.
Contact the site with comments or questions.
WEBMASTER@EHAM.NETSite Privacy Statement